Side note, I’m pretty sure you can send iMessage on a cruise ship when connected to their WiFi with no internet package because apple has a mesh network between unrelated devices and finds one with an internet endpoint to funnel messages in and out.

I’m just basing this on usage experience and my hypothesis.

I did not find Apple iMessage to work on my recent cruise without the room Wifi. I didn't really need internet with a tiny bit of planning though.

The cruise line had its own app and THAT had a chat feature. We didn't find it very reliable, however. You would eventually get messages, but it wasn't instant.

I downloaded my ebooks in advance and installed a small LLM on my laptop. I could read and code but I didn't get much of the latter done.

I've tried this on a RCL ship and it didn't work, so YMMV

> I’m pretty sure you can send iMessage on a cruise ship when connected to their WiFi with no internet package because apple has a mesh network between unrelated devices and finds one with an internet endpoint to funnel messages in and out.

I for one would love to hear more about this sub rosa mesh network.